Hunter needed my help so I teleported to him, not knowing where he was or what just happened to him.

I wish I could say what I saw when I got there surprised me, but it didn't. I had taken Hunter to hospital three times, and while his injuries the last couple of times were minor compared to the first, enough of a pattern was emerging that I knew my nephew wasn't safe with his Dad.

I had re-materialized in Remy's living room, standing beside Hunter as his father screamed at him.

My nephew was curled in a tiny ball at my feet, nursing his right arm and crying; the second I saw him, I was weeping too. He was making himself as small as he could, and wrapped in on himself so tightly, he somehow reminded me of the pumpkins my grandfather used to grow... except the pumpkins were larger. Remy towered over him, looking ten times his child's size. I couldn't begin to fathom his actions.

Remy was so stunned when I appeared that he stopped for a moment, giving me just long enough to figure out what was going on. Then he lunged at me, his hands reaching for my neck. I easily reacted in time, throwing him across the room telekinetically and sticking him to the wall, so he couldn't harm Hunter or I any more.

"This is your fucking fault," Remy screamed. "You brought that freak into my house, you gave him the idea. He'd be OK if it weren't for you."

I tried to ignore him as he kept ranting about how terrible I was and blaming me for what he'd done to his son, but I was so upset I couldn't bear to listen to him. I had an idea and held up the same hand I used to throw him across the room. I clapped the fingers and thumb together and his mouth closed, stopping his tirade. I almost smiled when he glared back at me, utterly enraged.

That gave me time to kneel beside Hunter and look him over. I could feel how much his arm hurt him, but the physical pain wasn't what made him curl up in a ball and cry. He was in a state of mental overload, ever-shifting visions of the future overwhelming his young mind. He had no ability to shield yet, and right now the future had been destabilized somehow, so he was having to deal with a dozen times as many possible futures as he usually did. He couldn't cope with it and was near-catatonic as his mind tried in vain to keep up.

I rested my hands on either side of his head and gently tilted his face up so he was looking at me. The terror in his eyes was heartbreaking.

"You're gonna be OK, sweetie," I murmured. "I can help you."

Over all the noise in his mind, my words barely registered. I lowered my forehead to his and slipped into his mind, experiencing the vertiginous feeling of a future in flux for myself. It reminded me of the time my parents took me to a concert in Shreveport when I was six. Sitting in the audience of four hundred excited children and their parents, I was almost catatonic, too; the mental noise was overwhelming. I curled into a ball and stuck my fingers in my ears the whole time, trying to keep out some of the din, but it didn't help. My parents urged me to sit up and try to look normal, but I couldn't; I didn't have the leftover energy to pretend to be OK. Feeling that overloaded again, my stomach lurched and for a few moments, my own mind was just as lost as Hunter's, trying to deal with it all.

As my human self proved unable to cope, I shifted into fairy form. Somehow that made it better; I could see the fast-changing future from the outside as well as the inside now - it was just like checking the weather so I could pull energy from the sky without causing storms - and I was finally able to detach myself from it. Then I tried to quiet the noise in Hunter's mind. In my first three attempts, I simply couldn't hold back the deluge, but the fourth time, I quieted it for a few moments. Finally, on my fifth attempt, I created a shield that worked. We could both feel the chaos on the other side of it, but part of his mind was completely clear now, letting him think clearly again.

As soon as the shield was in place, I shifted back to human form smoothly, not wanting to freak Remy out any more if I could help it.

In Hunter's memories, I saw what happened to him tonight. He had been trying to shape-shift, because he had seen Quinn do it once and though it was the coolest thing ever. This evening, he finally succeeded. He was really happy about that... until his father walked in and caught him. He had changed just one arm, the same way Quinn did when he came here with me a few weeks ago. I knew that was much harder than shifting fully, but Hunter had never seen a whole tiger in the flesh, so he didn't know what to do with the rest of his body. When his father saw his arm turn into a tiger's front leg, he grabbed it with one hand and hit it with all his might using the other, first breaking both bones in his son's lower arm, then the one in his upper arm.

The most horrifying thing was the thoughts Hunter had to listen to as his father did it; his Dad was convinced that breaking his son's arm was necessary to protect him. He felt sure that if Hunter ever changed in front of other people, the rumors that there was something wrong with him would be known to be true, and the Fellowship would come after him. Remy thought breaking his arm was 'teaching him a lesson he'll never forget', convinced it was the most effective way to make sure his son never shifted again. He had even told the terrified child that he was being merciful; that anyone else who saw him "turn into a beast like that" would do far worse. Needless to say, I didn't agree it was necessary, and I knew most humans had more-or-less accepted shifters – far more than they would ever accept telepaths, I felt sure.

I gingerly examined Hunter's arm, knowing he had to go to hospital right away. I was just about to tell him that when he started screaming at me telepathically.

You have to go back! he yelled silently. Go back, now!

Hunter, you're hurt, I'm here to help you. Just-

NO! he insisted. They're going to fight. You have to stop them. When Quinn kills Eric, the future all goes wrong. He can't die!

It made no sense; if they did fight, I knew Eric would be the one to win; he was stronger by far.

He's not, my nephew insisted. He closed the bond. He's weak now. He doesn't know. He's hurt, too. Go back, please.

But your Dad- I started, and Hunter interrupted me again.

He can't move 'til you let him. Go. I'll be OK until you get back.

I was still skeptical, so he did the only thing that would convince me: he started showing me the futures he had seen. In the most likely one, Eric and Quinn were about to start fighting at my place; fighting over me. He showed me that if it happened, there was a high chance I'd be dead by the end of the night, too. Remy was determined to kill me, convinced Hunter would be normal once he was free of my bad influence, and depending on what he tried (Hunter had seen over a dozen possibilities already, and Remy was still coming up with new ideas), Eric would most likely be the only one who could save me. He also showed me how much trouble I'd have convincing Remy to let Hunter come live with me, and how easy it would be for Eric to glamor him into it.

It had taken him less than a second to show me all of it, and I now knew I had to convince the two idiot males not to fight.

I'll be back real soon, I promised.

I know, he smiled.

I made sure he could keep the mental shields in place without my help so his visions wouldn't overwhelm him again, and after two attempts, they held. I kissed him on the forehead and teleported back home.

When I popped back into my living room, it was exactly as Hunter had seen: Eric and Quinn were circling each other menacingly. They were so focused on threatening one another that they failed to notice me entirely, despite the loud 'pop!' when I appeared.

"Cut it out," I ordered. "Both of you, stop it."

They each turned to face me, wearing identical surprised-but-determined expressions. I shook my head in annoyance.

"But he-" Eric started.

"I don't care," I snapped. "You're both old enough to know better. It doesn't matter what you're fighting about, I had to interrupt my fairy god-mothering to come stop you killing each other, and that makes you both gigantic pains in my ass, as well as idiots."

"Sorry, babe," Quinn apologized, ashamed of himself. "How did it go? You're back much sooner than I expected."

I was just about to answer when Eric cracked up laughing. "You are a fairy godmother?" he guffawed. "You? You still need one yourself."

I turned to glare at him and noticed his right hand was oddly bent out of shape, bones clearly broken. I rolled my eyes at him in annoyance.

In a clever twist on a standard sanctuary spell, Amelia had warded the house so anyone who attempted violence took the force of the blow themselves. Usually, sanctuary spells stop attacks altogether so nobody is hurt, dissipating the force of every blow - but it takes a lot of magical power to do that, as the force of each blow has to be un-made, effectively. By redirecting the force back to the attacker instead, the ward required much less power to work, making it far more stable and longer-lasting. The spell couldn't be exhausted through simple persistence; anyone who kept trying would beat themselves to death long before the magic was exhausted.

As well as being such a strong ward, the spell she dreamed up was also a great deterrent - fights stopped as soon as everyone saw what happened to the person who threw the first punch. That meant only the person who started the fight was harmed... and today, that was Eric.

He saw me staring at his hand and started explaining. "If you heard what he-"

"I don't care," I reiterated, "I just want you to stop. If you won't do it for me, do it for yourself; you can get hurt, you know."

Watching Eric meet his final death at Quinn's hands in Hunter's vision had upset me enough to want to stop it, no matter what it took. I really hoped Eric would listen to me, although he mostly seemed amused by the idea of a shifter getting the better of him. Quinn was staring at me silently, wondering what Hunter had seen that had me so convinced that Eric would get hurt if they fought each other.

What happened to Hunter? Quinn asked, subtly fishing for details.

He walked over to me and took my hand so I could project my thoughts back to him, in case I wanted to reply silently. I did.

He shifted for the first time, I answered. He did exactly what you did when you visited him; changed just one arm.

Wow, that's incredible, he replied, impressed Hunter had done something so difficult.

Yeah, but his Dad caught him and broke his arm in a couple places. I've got to get him out of there, away from his father.

How awful, he commiserated. Can I help at all?

I shook my head sadly. Eric's amusement was long gone, and he was fuming with anger instead.

"I see what you are doing," he snarled. "Tell me what you are discussing."

"I just asked her about her fairy godmother duties," Quinn shrugged, careful not to say or even imply that I could project back to him.

Ask him to help you, Hunter urged in my head, interrupting the conversation. Tell Eric you need his help.

I dropped Quinn's hand then, to signal that it wasn't a good time for him to 'talk' silently to me.

Hunter had seen many possible outcomes to the talk I was about to have with Remy, where I would try to convince him to let his son live with me. In most of them, I died. Remy was determined to kill me to free his son from my supposed bad influence so he'd be normal again. He had come up with a dozen ideas of how to do it already, and was still dreaming up more. Defending against so many different possible attacks at once was hard, especially when Hunter couldn't get a clear fix on the future to help guide me.

Hunter was convinced I would die if Eric didn't help me, but I was more optimistic. I was pretty sure that between two telepaths - both with assorted fairy powers and one also a seer - we could stop one angry human from killing me.

Besides, I would die before I let Eric know about Hunter. If I, a mere telepath, was valuable enough that he would trick me into agreeing to be turned, what would he do to get hold of a seer as powerful as my nephew? Quinn had told me how limited the powers of everyone in the Clairvoyant's Guild were - seeing one random scene from one possible future was all most of them could do - and my part-fairy nephew was already more powerful at age four-and-three-quarters than the most powerful Guild member, by a very wide margin. I didn't want to know what Eric would do to secure Hunter's gift for his own use.

He'll be one of my Dads, Hunter answered my thoughts. He'll look after me and protect me. He won't let any other vampire know about me. Except Pam and James. He'll keep it from Bill, even. He'll get hurt to save us, lots of times. He won't do it just so I help him, either. He'll love me and care for me. He won't ask me to help much. He'll want me to be a kid still, like you do. He'll be a good Dad.

I couldn't help but sigh aloud. Hunter, I know Eric can be sweet sometimes, but he's still a vampire, and vampires are all twisty and deceptive. They can't help it; it's their nature. You can't ever trust a vampire. Not ever. Please, promise me you won't tell him?

No! he yelled in my mind. Eric loves you, and he loves me too, after he meets me tonight. He has to come and help, or you die. You promised you'd let me protect you.

I did, and you've done great, sweetie, I praised him. But we're gonna find a way for you and I to save ourselves, without involving Eric.

I pulled up a partial shield between my mind and his then, for the first time ever, to tell him the discussion was over. It wasn't a strong shield - he could easily push through it if he needed me - but the threat of being cut off from the only person who truly understood his 'gift' was enough to quiet him. I hated myself for making that threat, but I had to keep him safe from Eric, at any cost.

"You are talking to someone else," Eric muttered then. "This silent conversation is not with Quinn. Who are you talking to, Sookie?"

"None of your business," I snapped, before I could think better of it.

"So there is another telepath in town. I will find them," he threatened. "I could use another telepath. One who knows their place."

"No!" I yelled, horrified by the thought of him getting to Hunter. "You leave him alone, Eric."

"So it is a male," he grinned triumphantly. "You have already narrowed down my search by half. I will locate him in no time."

"No, you won't," I replied, my voice icy. "If you find him, I will kill you."

He laughed at me again. "And how will you do that, lover?" he chuckled. "I am stronger than you, faster, a better fighter. You won't-"

"You're practically helpless during the day," I interrupted, " so I will find your daytime resting place, and I will stake you in your sleep. I have vampire GPS from the blood bond, so I can find you easily enough. If you threaten him ever again, I will find you and kill you."

He looked at me for a long moment, and I could feel him probing the bond deeply, testing my resolve. "You mean it," he finally marveled.

"Yes."

"You would kill me to protect another man."

Hunter wasn't yet a man, but I wasn't about to tell Eric that. "Yes," was all I said.

He stared at me in shock for a long moment. "You really are a fairy godmother," he finally concluded. "You would kill to protect your charge."

"Yes," I agreed, "and I have work to do. I have to stop you two from fighting while I'm gone, though. I can stick you both to the wall and leave you there until I get back, or you can both promise not to fight, and keep that promise. Which is it going to be?"

"I won't fight him," Quinn promised instantly. "You have my word. Go back, he needs you."

"Fine," Eric huffed, "I won't either. It is no fun to kill someone who does not fight back."

"Good," I concluded, and popped straight back to Hunter, hoping he had come up with a plan to keep me alive.